Operating systems

Assimp is a portable and extensible library designed for reading various well-known 3D file formats. It provides APIs for C and C++ and several wrappers for other languages. It reads more than 20 different 3D file formats (including Collada, 3DS, OBJ, LWO, and X) into a straightforward, hierarchical in-memory data structure that can easily be read and processed by applications. Several post processing steps can be applied, such as normal and tangent computations, index buffer, and vertex cache optimization. The library supports complex multi-layer materials and skinned meshes with multiple animations. A Windows-based viewer utility is provided as an implementation reference.

MakeHuman is software for the modelling of three-dimensional humanoid characters. Features that make this software unique include a highly intuitive GUI and a high quality mesh, optimized to work in subdivision surface mode (for example, Zbrush). Using MakeHuman, a photo-realistic character can be modelled in less than 2 minutes.

The Open Game Libraries is a collection of separately usable C++ libraries for creating games. It provides OpenGL window management, zip file management, OpenAL audio management, a developer console window, input management, bitmapped fonts with Unicode and kerning support, image loading and saving, model loading and importing, and generic classes and objects for game development such as math and text processing.

DXF2papercraft converts a polygonal 3D model stored as a DXF file into a plain drawing in the form of a 2D DXF file. This requires the program to "unfold" the 3D model. The result is a flattened pattern of connected polygons. All edges of a polygon which are unconnected get a so-called glue tab in addition. This pattern is called a papercraft model, and it can be used to build a shape that resembles the original 3D model from paper or cardboard. After all pairs of tabs have been glued together, the paper model corresponds to the 3D object. The final model can be reinforced by fiber glass and resin to obtain a rigid, resilient structure.